Grain-separating machine.



M. WEAVER. GRAIN SEPARATING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JAILZO, 1911. RENEWED PEB.18, 1913.

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Patented Sept. 16, 1913.

M. WEAVER. GRAIN SEPARATING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JAN.20, 1911. RENEWED rm. 18, 1913. 1,073,451

Patented Sept. 16, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

IN VE N TOR A TTORNE Y BY YWWQW W4 (563W. A Z 72 Ma MORRIES WEAVER, OF JONESTOWN BOROUGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO JOHN T. BUCKWAL'IER, OF LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA.

GRAIN-SEPARATING MACHINE.

Application filed January 20, 1911, Serial No. 603,683.

To all whom it may concern lie it known that I, hlounms WnAvnn, a citizen of the United States, residing in the borough of Jonestown, county of Lebanon, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Grain-Separating Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in grain-separating machines wherein means are provided for cleaning wheat and other grains by separating cockles, chat? and other foreign materials therefrom, and has for its object to supply a machine of this character which is comparatively simple in construction and is adapted to act efiiciently upon grains of varying weight and to maintain a uniform blast pressure under any prearranged condition of adjustment without regard to variations in velocity of the moving parts.

i To this end and the accomplishment of such other objects as may hereinafter appear, the invention consists in the construction and combination of parts hereinafter particularly described and claimed, reterence being had to the accompanying drawings, in. which:

Figure 1, is a central vertical sectional view of a device embodying my invention. Fig. 9, is a sectional view on line 2--9. of Fig. 1, parts being broken away to show the blast equalizing device arranged in the opening between the fan and the separating chamber. Fig. 3, is a view similar to Fig. 2, showing the preferred form of said blast equalizing device; and Fig. 4;, is a side elevational view of the machine showing the means whereby said blast equalizing device may be adjusted.

Similar letters and characters of reference indicate similar parts throughout the views.

The standards C C disposed at the corners together with the housing therebetween constitute the framework of the machine. D indicates a hopper or bin. open at the top and provided with an inclined bottom, into which the mixture to be acted upon is introduced and whence it descends by gravity to the breast or retarding strip D which latter extends transversely the width of the hopper. An adjustable sliding gate 1) controls the outlet of the hopper, and a rotary feeding device D provided with radial Specification of Letters Patent.

liatenled Sept. it}, if) 3.

Renewed February 18, 1913 Serial No. 749,280.

wings is pivotally mounted immediately above the retarding strip l)" and is adapted to cooperate therewith in Feeding the mixture in a. stream of regular and uniform volume into vertical separating chamber i Located below the hopper is the blast tan A inclosed in a casing ll having lateral air receiving vents B". An opening 1*], provided in the lower 'lront portion of the easing and extending transversely the width of the tan, communicates with the separating chan'iber F at such an angle as to direct the blast upwardly therein. The bottom ot' the separating chamber F is preferably formed by a contiimation oi the lower peripheral portion of the tan casing and the same is made to slope downwardly and :forwardly so as to direct the grain which passes through the air current into a duct F whereby it is discharged into the collecting trough F and thence by means of a pivoted de fleeting chute F into a box or other suitable receptacle placed under the machine. Such portions of the mixture. as cockles, chall, etc.. which are lighter than the gain and fail there'lore to pass through the air current, are blown upward to a point near the top of the machine where they receive a forward deflection and are thus caused to descend into the collecting trough F and are thence conducted out of the machine and into any suitable receptacle by the transversely inclined spout F".

F indicates an opening in the top of the machine through whiclrthe blast escapes after having per'lormed its work.

It not infrequently occurs that mixtures contain an unusually large pri'iportion of foreign materials, or that on account of the same being wet or damp the foreign materials are in a gre: ter or less degree of adherence with the grain. and it is obvious that in these cases, a considerably stronger blast is required for thorough cleaning than would be ordinarily be called for. Such a blast however in the absence of some preventive device, would have the c'llect of blowing not only the foreign material but also a large portion of the grain into the trough F instead of allowing the same to descend and settle into the grain receptacle. In order to meet and overcome this difficulty, I provide on the upper end of the front wall or partition of the separating chamber F a movable extension or plate H which is preferably secured to said partition or to the lateral walls of the machine adjacent thereto by a pivot H Said pivot is preferably made rigid with said plate, and one of the ends thereof projected through one of the lateral walls of the machine, and a suitable device for turning attached thereto, whereby the plate may be readily adjusted by the be operated by hand as well as by power, it

becomes likewise necessary to supply some compensating device in order to maintain a blast of uniform pressure under varying degrees of velocity. This object I attain by means of a valve or gate J adapted to automatically control a relief opening B formed in the periphery B of the fan casing. Pref erably I locate this valve at the bottom of the casing and immediately in the rear of the point where the latter gives on to the inclined bottom of the separating chamber, and mount the same to vibrate through a limited are by means of a pivot J carried in bearings I. To hold the valve in closed position against any predetermined degree of air pressure, 1 preferably employ apoun'terbalance weight K adapted to be adjusted at any point upon a rearwardly extending slide rodK by means of a set screw K In machines of this class, fans having-wide blades are generally employed, and the air receiving openings are, as in this instance, commonly located in the lateral walls of the fan casing. In operation, the result is, asmay easily be understood and'readily ob served that the blast pressurebecomes unevenly distributed across the width of'the separating chamber, the same being strong est at the sides ofthe chamber and weakest I To obviatethis defect and equalize the blast pressure I provide on theupper side of the mouth of the fan opening at the center.

E a depending lip or plate B? (see Fig. 2,) so

formed as to make the opening Ewid'est at the center and narrowest at the ends of the fan. This equalizing l-ip maybe of any do sir-able contour, and maybe made of two or more parts rendered adjustable by suitable means from the outside of the machine.

This device as shown in Fig. 2,r may be formed by continuing the cylindrical wall B of the fan easing into the opening E and providing in the lower edge thereof an angular recess having its apex at a point substantially central of the opening. But I have found that better results may be secured by the adjustable construction shown in Figs;= 3' and-4, wherein plates 5 Z) movably attached to the wall B of the fan casing by pivots ,o, are adapted to be rotatedthrough a limited arc in a plane parallel with the aXis of the fan toincrease or do crease the angle formed by the lower edges thereof and thus regulate theslze and'shape of the opening E. The plates b project through slots 8' cut in the side-wallsof the" machine and are adapted to be securely held in any desired position" by means of setscrews t passing through arc-shaped slots 0' in the ends of the plates and threading into-- lugs 1". It not infrequently occurs that one side of the fan takes in the am more rapidly and in greater volume than the other, an d this form of the regulating device isespecially useful in such cases, since it is obvious-thateither one of the plates 6 can be moved independently of the other, and one side of the opening E can therefore be more re stricted than the other.

The operation of this machine is as" fol lows: The mixture to'be cleaned 1s pl'acedin the hopper D, whence it descends by grav ity to the retarding strip D over which it is conveyed and fed in a thin uniform stream into the separating chamber F, by the action of the rotary feeding devlce D Here 1t meets the blast from the fan A which blows the cockles, chaff, etc., upwardly'tow'ard the top of the machine, and permits the grain which is heavier than the foreign material to settle to the bottom of the'chamber. L 1a point near the top of the machine theforeign material is deflected and caused to de- 'scend into the trough F whence it is con 7 veyed by the spout F into a receptacle placed at the side of the machine. The

; grain meanwhile settles into the-trough and is directed by deflecting chuteF into another receptacle under the machine. Should the mixture be wet or otherwise heavy, the velocity of the fan may be in. creased and the blast pressure thus aug mented, while the passage leading to the trough F may beconstricted by deflecting the plate H towardthe front of the machine to insure the return to the separating chamber of any particles of grain which may be blown outof the top thereof. In the case of light mixtures or those containing unusually large proportions of foreign material, plate H is deflected rearwardly or into the course of the blast thus restricting the upper opening of the separating chamber and: subjecting the mixture to a very thorough action of the air current. In case the velocity of the fan should be suddenly increased during. the course of any particular operation of the machine, the blast pressure is automatically maintained at a uniform degree of strength by the operation of the compensating valve J, which may be adjusted to withstand any predetermined de gree of pressure, after which it will automatically open and allow a portion of the blast to escape through the opening B in the fan easing.

Having described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a grain separator, the combination with a cylindrical blast fan having air-receiving openings at the lateral ends thereof and a transverse discharge opening extending from end to end of the fan formed in the inclosing casing thereof, of a blast regulating device comprising two plates movably pivoted to the central part of said casing adjacent said discharge opening and adapted to eonstrict the same, slots in the side walls of the separator through which said plates extend, and means whereby said plates may be adjusted, the one independently of the other from the outside of the separator, so that one side oi said discharge opening may be restricted independently of the other.

2. In a grain separator, the combination with a cylindrical blast fan having air-receiving openings at the ends thereof and a transverse discharge opening in the cylindrical wall thereof, of a blast regulating device comprising two plates pivoted to the central portion of said wall adjacent said discharge opening and adapted to rotate independently of each other through a limited arc in a plane substantially parallel with the axis of said fan, and means for adjustably securing said plates at any point in said are.

MORRIES WEAVER.

Witnesses:

S. H. BENTZ, MARY E. BAIR.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

